She Created the World

In the cosmos, she existed. A goddess among gods, yet a lonely soul set apart from them.

Nefuina, or as she would come to be called, Mother Goddess, watched as others created their worlds only to turn their backs on them. Her heart ached as beautiful creations were left to rot, corrupted by the life forms that would inevitably claim the world as their own.

She, unlike the beings she took space with, could not fathom the idea of spending such time crafting a world that was, in essence, a part of her and then turning her back on it. But as it was, every god or goddess must create a world.

Some had created thousands, so many that they lost count, and yet she spent eons perfecting one. And when it was done, she called it Eldritch.

For thousands of years, her world sat as a beautiful reflection of herself, evolving more stunningly each day. Then she noticed new life forming and creating a path for itself on the world that she felt was as much a part of her as her own heart. After watching what happened to the other worlds, Nefuina refused to let her work of art be destroyed.

When the first race of beings began to organize and create a civilization, she appeared to them and she let them know that this was her world and they were allowed to live on it only if they showed respect for the gift given to them. If anything negative happened to it, if they had any negative impact on her world, she would remove them from it.

This was fine until two more species elevated and the first threat of war came as their territories overlapped. When she saw the three species preparing to fight, she appeared to their leaders all at once and she decided that each species that existed and all that would come to be civilizations on her world would have to take part in the trials.

The trials were a test of self, of heart, and of community.

It would be by her judgment alone if a species would be tested. If chosen, they would elect a champion who would stand as representative of their entire species. And should that champion fail the trials, their entire species would be cursed for 100 years. And the 100 years would be repeated for as long as it took for them to learn their lesson or until their species died out.

She refused to turn her back on her world. As beautiful as the organic creation of life was, it was not enough for her to allow them to destroy something she some other delicately designed.

And thus began the Eldritch Trials.